


Where to Call Home

by Serriya (Keolah)



Series: For Order and Justice [3]
Category: Rifts
Genre: Crossover, Dimension Travel, Exile, Gen, Home, Homecoming, Humanoid Animals
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2006-06-01
Updated: 2006-06-04
Packaged: 2017-12-09 02:51:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 21,927
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/769110
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Keolah/pseuds/Serriya
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A wolfen visits home, bringing a young human girl along for the trip.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Way Home

Sharra and Zillah were flying off back toward the Epsilon system after speaking with one Gabriel Fowler about commissioning a custom ship.

Sharra settled in for the trip, the hint of bitterness or regret fading completely beneath a more thoughtful anticipation. "Hmm, we'll have to stop by the station and do a bit of shopping before heading for the warp hole," she said, "Going to want to have a few things for the people back home when we get there."

Zillah nodded, and said, "How did you say they sent you here again? A what?"

"You probably have another name for them," Sharra replied, "just like the scientists back home probably do and would strain your ear for a half hour to explain the math behind them." She chuckled. "We call them helljumps, wormholes that are dangerous enough that we don't bother with them after the first check. They're on another level from the rifts, though."

"Unstable wormholes?" Zillah asked. "There's a bunch of slang terms around the fringe worlds for various astronomical phenomena, although much of it has become archaic with the advent of the jump drive technology. Prior to them, jump holes were the only way to get from system to system, if it didn't have a jump gate."

"Sounds about right," Sharra nodded. "Sometimes they lead someplace new, someplace old, and sometimes they circle around and lead to a literal dead-end. Most people prefer the rift network for trans-dimensional travel, but we always keep an eye out for new wormholes just to make sure that there won't be anything unpleasant coming through them without us knowing."

"Epsilon System has a much higher concentration of wormholes than anywhere else in the galaxy. The scientists suspect that it is because of the unique gravitational forces exerted by the Epsilon neutron star. They originally set up Epsilon Station in order to study the phenomenon."

"Scientists!" Sharra rolled her eyes and snorted. "They're the same wherever you go. Find anything even remotely different and you'll have a horde of them descending to find out _why_. Of course they'll also check their common sense at the door and end up having to get their tails dragged out of the fire... they do seem particularly avid about anything involving space, dimension, or temporal anomalies though."

Zillah pulled up a dissertation on the analysis of the phenomenon of the Epsilon neutron star wormhole system. It was a very dry scientific text that used far too many long words where simpler ones would be more than sufficient.

Sharra flicked a glance through the link at the file Zillah pulled up, then left her to it. It was inevitable that every schooling experience would involve similar texts, gods knew she'd been subject to enough of them! It'd do the girl good to read through, shake her head, and come to her own conclusion on the flaky nature of the scientific set. She chuckled softly and started work on a mental list.

It wasn't too long before they arrived back in the Epsilon system and dropped out of hyperspace again. Zillah piloted them back in toward the station and to the docking bay they were directed toward.

"This shouldn't take to long," Sharra commented as they settled into the landing bay. "Probably be able to find anything I'm looking for right through the station's computers and have it delivered, then we can head out."

When they stepped out of the ship, they spotted a fight apparently going on on the opposite side of the docking bay. No weapons, though, just apparently fists and claws. One furry having a bit of a tussle with a pair of humans.

Sharra didn't immediately go to intervene, though she did approach the scene to assess what's going on. Brawls were common enough anywhere and it was often just as well to leave them alone unless things started getting ugly, let people closed in tight spaces blow off some steam. Unless blood started to flow, or something else registered as off-kilter in the situation, she'd observe for the moment.

The fuzzy fellow did end up sending both of the humans to the floor, one of them with a bit of a bloody nose. They quickly backed off, and he didn't pursue. "And _think_ before what you decide to call me in the future!" They ran off.

Sharra chuckled lightly, tilting her muzzle to the being from her vantage about ten feet away. "Looks like you have things well in hand here." She could imagine what probably happened before they arrived and could respect the male's restraint.

He turned around to look at her briefly. At first glance some might mistake him for an anthropomorphic wolf, but the blue eyes and other differences seemed more in line with something more like a Siberian husky. "Yes, just people being foolish," he grumbled.

"Nothing new there," Sharra replied amiably. "Always going to be an 'us versus them' mentality as long as there's more than one species running around. Good to see it work itself out in a relatively-peaceful fashion now and again."

Zillah proceeded to put in an observation about the various racial, ethnic, and religious conflict that tended to crop up even when there was only one species in an area. The husky gave a bit of a smirk and bid them farewell and departed before she could describe the Crusades, the Inquisition, and other such pleasantness.

Sharra laughed and reached over to ruffle Zillah's hair fondly, her mirth trailing off by degrees as she headed for a terminal to start compiling her shopping list. Poor girl had had entirely too many Cybions and their ilk infesting her life to this point, she mused, but she'd relax over time.

Zillah snickered softly and followed along to the terminal inbuilt into the side of the wall at the edge of the docking bay for similar such purposes.

Sharra wasn't looking for anything particularly unusual, in fact the bulk of what she arranged for was mass-replication of various metals and minerals and set them to be delivered to the landing bay. Other things were put on the list, of course, such as various types of cloth, some electronic components, and even an assortment of various candies and toys.

She glanced down at Zillah along the way and smiled. "Take a look around if you want to, little one, but keep in regular contact if you do. No telling who may have decided to hang out lurking after we left."

Zillah was, however, content to watch curiously what she was looking for and ordering, wondering obliquely what she might want it all for. The Karzans' replicator technology was pretty new, though, and still had some trouble with heavier and more complex materials.

Sharra clicked her tongue thoughtfully, shrugged, and made what changes have to be in the various orders, arranged a payment method, and signed off to have the mass of it delivered. She stored the delivery information for reference, then turned away from the terminal.

"Looks like we have a little time until everything's ready," Sharra said.

Zillah went and got something to munch on in the meantime. Apparently, though, the big central replicators used and built by Asura could handle most metals and minerals, but the smaller ones couldn't though.

Sharra followed Zillah for now, content for quiet company until things started arriving and they had to get things loaded. It was tradition, after all, and she'd never been one to take that one any way but seriously.

Zillah munched away, and it wasn't long before things started arriving bit by bit, various workers hauling boxes with antigrav lifters. "Where do you want these?" one of them said as they approached.

Sharra opened the cargo hatch and motioned them inside. "Right in there. Other orders on the way so keep it clean and tight."

"Righto," he said, packing the boxes away in the cargo bay with the antigrav lifters and heading off.

Zillah finished up her pizza and decided to top it off with a thick milkshake. Sharra waited for the first wave of loading to be done, then went through and double-checked the cargo just for something to keep busy with for a while. Space wasn't really a problem, she hadn't arranged for anything that couldn't be broken down in a pinch and stored elsewhere.

A Darknova hardly had the storage space of a freighter, to be sure, but it was spacious and roomy compared to a Whistler, which barely had enough room for the pilot and their lunch. Everything seemed to be in order so far, and there weren't any blatantly incorrect orders.

Sharra turned a bit of thought to preparations for what will be ahead of them. The wormhole was really the least of their potential problems, but she didn't expect a great deal of trouble so long as she kept them away from the heavy industry systems and didn't run afoul of a full Fleet patrol or, worse, a solo Fury.

Zillah finished up her milkshake and looked back and said, "What's all this stuff for, anyway?"

"Tradition," Sharra replied, content for now with the basic approach and leaving the rest to unfold as it may. "We have two planets that are owned to the core, but only the second one has any significant industrial base. Our homeworld..." she paused a moment, "I guess somewhere along the way it was decided we'd keep it pure, after a fashion, and Quattoria are its only export. We pay that debt in full."

Zillah raised an eyebrow, quietly waiting for her to continue, a bit confused.

Sharra chuckled at her expression, fully willing to explain as it _was_ a pretty odd setup. "Arama is the name of the planet, and you'd think that with the introduction to a high technology base there'd be all the things associated to come with it, right? Cities, highways, traffic jams, pollution, all the gifts that technology gives to us... but you'd be wrong. We started down that path, sure enough, but after the colony founding someone had a stroke of insight and wisdom. Arama is about as pristine as a planet can be with a population of a hundred million or so. No scars in the land, we razed the cities and reconstructed what was there before, and everyone there lives pretty much how they did before the exodus. With a few conveniences, of course." She chuckled again. "That kind of setting doesn't lend itself well to the kinds of things a galactic market wants, and that was also by choice... nothing there that any of the others would really want or decide to go on a pirate spree over. It's where the bulk of the Quattoria come from, though, and when we go back we bring things that they can use. Paying our debt to society and tradition."

"Oh, I see," Zillah said.

Some more workers brought in another load of boxes. "Your order, ma'am. Shall we load them up for you also?"

"If you'd be so kind." Sharra nodded, gesturing within, then returning her attention to Zillah with a smile. "Like I said, little one, family's important. Quattoria don't usually have a chance to go back home more than once a year, but we always bring something with us to share with our clans. Does it really matter in terms of their survival? Not really, but we do it anyway because we can."

Zillah gave a nod quietly. The workers proceeded to load up the crates into the ship, packing them up so that they'd fit in the hold and heading off. The hold looked pretty packed now, but that looked to be everything.

Sharra took the time once more to double-check the delivery, then cross-checked what had arrived to what she'd ordered. Satisfied that things appeared in good shape, she sealed the ship up and headed back to the cockpit to enter coordinates into the navcomp. The wormhole was on the outer fringe of the system and didn't read as one that had been mapped in their survey as yet, unsurprising as it was almost invisible from this end.

Hardly unusual, as wormholes appeared and disappeared in Epsilon quite frequently, and only around half a dozen of them were stable and safe enough for regular travel. The scientists, of course, tried to keep an eye on things, but with the hundreds of wormholes in the system it got difficult sometimes.

Zillah settled into the seat beside her comfortably.

"Let's be on our way," Sharra said. "I'll spot you through the transit, ready to lend a hand if anything looks to be going wrong. Definitely want to be ready on the other end though."

Any open portal was sure to be watched, but helljumps were usually left to their own devices after an automated interdiction field was set into place nearby. Zillah nodded, and took the controls, easing the ship out of the docking bay and toward the coordinates that she had set.

Clearing the routine control zone around the station and setting their destination was quick enough, as was the transit to the coordinates. Sensors didn't relay anything at all until they're almost on top of the thing.

"Here we are, I think this is it. These are the correct coordinates, right?" Zillah said to confirm their location. Death Dancer or no, she didn't much care to fly through one of these things unless she was sure it was the right one.

"This is it," Sharra affirmed, as she had also checked the coordinates against her own records when they approached. "Take us in, and go silent and still when we emerge."

Zillah gave a nod, and brought them into the wormhole. The transit wasn't so much rough as it was disorienting, the wormhole twisting and turning in dizzying curves and seeming to double back on itself now and then. They emerged some time later, safe and sound, the flickering energies of the portal contracting to a tiny pinprick in space behind them.

Zillah was fair enough used to that behavior from some of the jump holes that connect them together, although usually not to so much extent. She brought them out and turned on the Darknova's stealth mode. Sharra remembered the 'joy' of the transit from the last time and was prepared for it, setting to work with the sensors as soon as they emerged. She growled thoughtfully at what they found.

"Multi-mines, I'd bet, and the larger ones are Lancer platforms. They were serious about keeping this one sealed tight."

There were a set number of patterns that were used, though, deliberate paths left open in case of emergency. She painted a course on the screen for Zillah after cycling through and finding which pattern they'd used for this field.

"Take it nice and slow," she cautioned. "Just on the offhand chance something out there's malfunctioning."

There was a globe surrounding the warp hole, thousands of tiny specks visible only because she knows they're there and what exactly to look for.

Zillah gave a nod and piloted the ship gently where she indicated. "Man, they don't go to this much trouble back at home..."

Sharra chuckled quietly, remaining watchful for any signs of mines or platforms going active. "You probably haven't had some of the things that we've seen coming through rifts and warp holes, little one. Remember that thing that took a shot at Tibet? There's been worse, a _lot_ worse."

"Well... yeah, that's true. Usually things don't come out, just people end up going in and never coming out, or coming out a hundred years later on the other side of the galaxy blathering madly about demons."

"The scientists have a theory," Sharra smirked and rolled her eyes at that, "that the rifts act as some sort of magnet for all manner of strange things. Demons and aliens of all kinds pop out of them all the time here, and that's just the stable and controlled ones." She made a minor adjustment to their path as they neared the end of the field, then nodded as they cleared the outer ring of the mines.

Zillah brought them through quietly and calmly. "Oh, yeah, they always have theories."

With the immediate threat passed, they were freed to examine the system they'd emerged in a bit more closely. The first thing to note was that it was a typical yellow star system and had a number of planets circling at varying distances, at least two of them clearly within life-sustaining reach as readings indicate highly industrialized worlds. The second was that the warp hole opened well within the ring of the first planet. Gravitational and radiation levels were well within tolerable levels for their ship, and it was no real problem. Sharra uploaded a map of the local systems and the route to her own home.

"Really not that far away, kind of ironic," Sharra mused. "Anyway, avoid the planets in passing. No need to chance an encounter. Should only be a few hours beyond that point."

Zillah gave a nod and said, "Alright." She proceeded to set a course and headed in the indicated direction, giving a fair berth to anything alive or intelligent in the immediate vicinity.

They left the system without any difficulty or sign that they'd been noticed, and Sharra relaxed as the ship settled into the transit to the nearby system. "Wonder if anyone else will make the festival this year?" she wondered idly.

"There's a festival?" Zillah asks, leaning back and putting on some quiet music once it seems they were clear.

Sharra grinned crookedly. "Yes there is. It was coming up when I ended out at Epsilon Station and the wait for our new ship provided the perfect excuse to come back in time for it. It's a yearly event that's been going on for a lot longer than _I've_ been around. Pretty sure it had some religious significance way back, but now it's just a time to celebrate."

"That sounds interesting," Zillah said quietly, settling in for the trip and watching the silent movement of nothing in particular outside the ship.

"Oh it is," Sharra agreed. "Though it's more a secondary reason for going anyway. Nothing like a worldwide party, though, you should be able to find all sorts of trouble to get yourself into." She chuckled.

Zillah quietly let the ship fly on, but remained alert for anything that might decide to try to interrupt them one way or another.

The hours passed quietly and peacefully, Sharra's mind turning inward to other paths and memories. As their destination was reached, she set to a full scan of the system. Twelve planets circled the golden star at the center, but only four were on the near side as they approached, including Arama which was the third planet out. A halo of cometary and cosmic debris lay at the edge of the system, but it was easily navigated.

Arama itself was a typical verdant world, with climates ranging from arctic to arid desert, though the axial tilt tended to make the world a bit warmer. A handful of satellites circled the planet, but there was no sign of space-born industry or the typical elements one would expect on the ground either. Sharra directed their course toward the southernmost of the planet's five continents.

Zillah brought them in, following her directions quietly and looking over the readouts with curiosity and fascination.

The continent reached from a narrow peninsula at its northernmost end which lay in the hot equatorial zone and expanded broadly toward the south, the greater part of its bulk firmly in more-temperate climes. A narrow strip of islands at its south end tenuously connected it to the ice floes and permafrost of the truest southern continent, which was not a friendly environment.

A dark ridge of mountains bisected the continent from north to south, splitting in the north so that the range forms a 'y'. Their course took them to the east side of the island, near the mountains where a great forest spread like a rich green carpet and gave way to rolling grasslands. A desert lay to the north of the lush flatlands, but refinements brought them within an easy distance of their goal.

"Land there," Sharra directed softly, indicating a rocky expanse to the south of the sprawling village nearby.

Zillah gave a nod and brought the ship in where she indicated, taking in the sights of what she saw outside the ship wide-eyed. She went to set the ship down carefully.

Sharra rose and stretched, then walked to the hatch to open up and step outside. A smile inevitably curled her muzzle as she turned magnified vision toward the village and saw others moving around in the cooling heat of the afternoon sun. It was an odd sight, easily dismissed and sneered at as provincial at best and barbaric at worst, but there were signs that they were definitely not as primitive as first glance would say.


	2. Bittersweet Welcome

Zillah climbed out after her, stretching a bit as well and giving a look around their immediate vicinity. "Nice place," she commented quietly. "So this is where you're from?"

"Yes," Sharra replied quietly, then tilted an ear at a faint noise which drew her eyes upward as well. At first it might be considered an illusion, a flicker of red and orange that might have come from a ship entering the atmosphere, but the contrail which emerged would dispel that. "Hmm," she murmured thoughtfully, watching its course to see where it might go... and coming to the conclusion that it was here or somewhere near indeed.

Zillah looked to where she's looking, and raised an eyebrow. "What is it?" Zillah asked.

"Ship," Sharra replied, frowning. "And we don't exactly get a lot of traffic out this way..." The timing seemed a little too coincidental as well, but she didn't say that, instead telescoping her sight to get a view of the thing. "Oh damn," she muttered and sighed, then moved to lean up against the ship with her arms folded.

"Something wrong?" Zillah asked, looking up at it again and over to her warily, frowning a bit at her reaction.

"There's still a few days til the festival, little one," Sharra replied, looking upward to follow the path of the ship that was descending with deliberate care but gradually resolved itself into a narrow, elongated arrowhead shape that was clearly heading for the same field. "I didn't expect a Fury to show up this soon."

Zillah stared at it as well and asked, "What's a Fury?"

As it approached, a faint hum could be heard from its engines and its skin was revealed to have a shimmering quality to it that reminded Zillah of the same sort of metal she'd seen when Sharra had shown her the neural shunt. It was outer edges ripple and curve, shifting its aerodynamic profile as it settled gently to land.

"Quattoria interceptors," Sharra replied softly, her eyes intent on the ship as she continued, "Fast, maneuverable, tough as hell, lethal to anything organic since there's no inertial compensators... and each one having a personality of its own." She shook her head and pushed away from the Darknova, offering a tight smile. "May as well see who's come looking for me." She headed casually in that direction.

Zillah fell into step after her quietly, continuing to frown a bit and staring at the thing curiously.

As they drew near, a hole rippled open in the side of the craft and a wolfen swung out in an arc to land on the ground. His build was considerably heavier than Sharra's but the clothing was definitely the same, clearly what they consider a uniform. Black fur carried hints of blue in it beneath the warm sun, and light danced off of the symbol at the left side of his chest.

Seeing him, Sharra smiled broadly and quickened her step. "Adar? What're _you_ doing here?"

A smile answered her own, but he didn't otherwise move as he replied, "Who else would have volunteered to watch that helljump until you showed back up?"

Zillah stopped frowning and raised an eyebrow, moving up behind Sharra to see him. "Er. Hello," she said tentatively.

Sharra's ears flicked forward at his statement, reading more into that than was obviously apparent, but it didn't stop her from stepping close and hugging the dark wolfen. "It's still good to see you," she said softly.

Adar hugged her back. "Yeah well, I figured you'd skin me alive if I wasn't here to welcome you, so..." He shrugged, drawing away, and tilted his head down to look at the human girl curiously at the greeting. "Who'd you bring with you, Mom?"

Sharra chuckled, turning so she could introduce them. "Adar, this is Zillah Jordan. Zillah, this hulking mass of fluff is Adar, general troublemaker and schemer since he was a pup."

Zillah smiled to him and gave a wave. "Pleased to meet you. I think," she said, a little uncertainly and somewhat confused about the entire matter.

Sharra grinned, looking from one to the other of them. "I'm going to see about getting things unloaded, you mind showing her around a little while I do that, Adar?"

Adar chuckled. "Nah, not a problem, and I won't even show her all the trouble you can get into around here, promise." Sharra chuckled and started off, but he interrupted quietly, "Before you go though, I need your shield."

Sharra stopped mid-stride, her wince echoed by various signs in body language, but she turned back. "Speaker give the order?" she asked softly, and at his nod she reached into the breast pocket of her coat and reluctantly handed him the specialized badge she'd carried for so long.

"Look, I'm..." he began, but she raised a hand to stop him, donning a smiling mask, then turned to head back to the task she'd decided on. "Damn," he muttered and sighed, looking at the thing in his hand, then tucked it into a pocket.

Zillah watched the exchange silently and raised an eyebrow once she'd turned back. She had to figure just how confused Sharra must have been as well upon arriving in her own galaxy. "What was that all about?" Zillah murmured quietly.

Adar looked down at her speculatively, his eyes mirroring those of his mother as he considered her own nature and unlikelihood of traveling with someone who wasn't worth the effort. He half-smiled and gestured to the village.

"Let's go poking around and I'll tell you on the way. It seems pretty simple from first glance, but there's a lot more to it than most would realize... probably why the Speaker asked me to do it." He shook his head and started walking, composing his thoughts.

Zillah gave a nod and went to quietly follow after him pensively. She kept her head high and looked up and about at everything there was to see, calmly taking in everything.

The village was becoming more lively as the heat of the day faded further, wolfen of all sizes and ages scurrying out to go about various errands or to poke their muzzles curiously in the direction of the new arrivals. Adar was definitely recognized, he shared brief greetings with numerous people along the way, but their curiosity regarding the true stranger in their mist was an almost palpable thing.

"I'm going to assume she's told you a bit about us, both wolfen and Quattoria, at least enough to know what those mean," Adar said. "So going from there... Quattoria are issued a shield, a badge, when they're first converted. They're impossible to forge and stay with the same wolfen throughout their life. They provide access to a lot of places, in fact that's what got you two through the mines back there."

Zillah gave a nod and said, "I see, I think." She smiled gently back at some of the attention she seemed to be receiving. "Does that mean we wouldn't be able to get back?"

"Not on your own, no," Adar replied, then laughed and took a quick step back as a young wolfen went streaking by, a group of others in hot pursuit and barely seeming to notice the newcomers in the thrill of the chase. "I'll be escorting you back, though," he added after they start walking again, then looked down at her. "I don't suppose anything's happened since she left that I should be warned about? The shield also records anything the bearer sees and does," he explained quietly, reluctantly, as though thinking something over, then added in an apparent aside, "Sometimes they get lost, though..."

"I don't know what you mean," Zillah said. "Like what? I don't know what was she was up to before she came and saved me from the Cybions who were trying to abduct me..." She shrugged.

Adar snorted and shook his head, quirking a grin. "I should have known better, and she'd knock me a good one for even asking, so how about keeping it quiet?"

Not for asking, he knew, but for the silent offer he'd made, _that_ she'd knock him for a loop on, but... family. What good was duty if you didn't have someone out there to apply it to?

Their path wended through the low-lying, smooth-cut stone buildings of the village, the wolfen populace remaining brightly curious as to Zillah's presence but not pressing it as she was accompanied by a friend of the clan.

"Well, here we are," he said, walking toward another of the buildings at the far edge of the village, the grounds well-tended and a garden sprouting a brilliant array of colorful flowers.

Zillah was confused about the entire matter but didn't say anything more about it, giving a good look over the garden. Although she'd made regular trips to Balzac and Siberia, she'd never really spent much time on actual planets, and Siberia was hardly what one would call scenic or friendly for tourists.

"There's a couple places that we stay when we visit," Adar said, walking up and opening the archaic wood door. "But she gets this one when she's in town."

There were a couple steps to descend into the main living area, the buildings that had seemed so short for the height of the wolfen suddenly making much more sense now. 

Open windows let in a great deal of light and fresh air, the scent of flowers as well as the spices and other things growing in the garden lending an earthy tone. It was simply but comfortably furnished, and examples of what the wolfen considered appealing in wall hangings and other decorations brightened the room.

"Make yourself comfortable," he said, "Can I get you something to eat or drink?"

Zillah strolled inside, relaxing and looking around, and said, "Oh, sure, if you like. It has been 2.3 hours since I have consumed nutrition."

Adar looked at her strangely, ears tilted, then shook his head. "Sure thing," he said, walking to one of the doors leading out of the living room and opening it to reveal a spacious kitchen, then chuckled. "Mom always was a lousy cook, so she insisted on installing a replicator here to avoid tormenting guests. Of course she made sure to put out her finest when 'favorite' relatives dropped by..." the last was quite dry. "Any particular preference?" he asked.

Zillah shook her head, more curious as to what the local cuisine might be than interested in eating yet another pizza at the moment.

"Alrighty then," Adar said. "Go with an old classic then, should keep you going until the folks hereabout put together a welcome feast. Two of us here is surprise enough, just wait until the rest of the clan shows up."

He chuckled, emerging with a plate that had the familiar combination of a burger and fries as well as a glass with a malted topped by whip cream and a cherry.

Zillah smiled and thanked him and proceeds to eat, and said, "Is the idea of shoving a piece of meat in between two pieces of bread so common, or is this another one of those 'alternate timeline' things people kept mentioning when the Interdimensional Bridge opened up?"

Adar laughed. "Don't ask me, I've wondered about that myself every time I've wandered through one of the three thousand or so rifts and found something familiar. Guess there's just some things that transcend space and time." He chuckled. "'Course they weren't around when I was a pup, and from the way the young ones go at it I can guess I missed out on something."

Zillah munched away and said, "It's interesting, I suppose. But then, I'm no scientist, nor really care to be." She shrugged.

"You won't get a lot of argument from my family on that one," Adar said. "Maybe arguments on anything else under the million suns, but not that..." He grinned. "You'll see what I mean when the others show up. Should be in plenty of time for the festival, unless they were out of range of any subspace relay."

"Heh. Nobody in _my_ family was ever a scientist," Zillah said. "Most of them were Death Dancers..."

Adar settled into a comfortable crouch nearby, tilting his head, "And what's a Death Dancer?"

The pose seemed to be a common thing for them, and the furniture would seem to support that as it was mostly comfortable cushions and a couple couches that looked perfect for the larger wolfen to sprawl out on.

Zillah indicated the symbol in red on her chest, and said, not without a touch of pride, "The Dancers on the Edge of Death are warriors who uphold freedom and justice for all people."

"Do they now?" Adar asked rhetorically, his expression thoughtful, "I suppose Mom's already looking at joining them?" Maybe the thing with the shield wouldn't be such a blow after all, he mused, smiling faintly.

Zillah snickered softly. "Sort of, I guess. She seemed rather attached to what she already was..."

Adar's ears laid back at that and he nodded. "Yeah, I guess she would at that. She's seen a lot of change over her career, but some things never will." He shook his head. "I'll tell you, go for scientist before you ever get into politics. Keep your sanity and soul intact."

Zillah finished up eating and raises an eyebrow, and said, "Well, I wasn't planning on being a politician, anyway. I wouldn't be very good at it. I'd end up threatening all my opponents at gunpoint out of habit."

Adar smirked. "You wouldn't be the first one to think about that. Anyway," he made a chopping gesture, cutting that line off. "Out of curiosity, how old are you? I may be a little fuzzy on human aging, but I wouldn't put you past the early teens and that seems kind of strange to be traveling with a Quattoria."

"I am thirteen years old," Zillah said. "I just turned thirteen last month."

"So what are you two doing traveling together?" Adar asked, clearly puzzled and frowning. "I know just the kinds of things we get into all the time, and I can't believe Mom would put you in danger like that..."

"I am a Dancer on the Edge of Death," Zillah said. "I have been training in combat, piloting, and psionics since before I could walk..."

"I see," Adar replied, though it was clear that he didn't, undoubtedly planning to confront Sharra later with some very pointed questions. Again he changed subjects with a gesture, grinning. "Say, do you like to swim?"

"Swim," Zillah repeated. "Well. I know how to, but I didn't really get much chance to do so on Epsilon Station. There were not frequently large freestanding bodies of water on board the space station."

Adar snorted, pushing himself upright. "Well where's the fun in that? It's been such a nice day out, and with the arrivals I can bet that the adults have shooed the younger off to deal with things, so I know just the place if you'd like to see it. One of my favorites as a pup, in fact."

"Okay!" Zillah said cheerfully, bouncing to her feet with a grin. "I wanna see."

"C'mon then," Adar replied with a grin, heading for the door. "Give you a chance to meet some of the others too, I'm sure, who're more than happy that we showed up to throw their schedules off-course."

Zillah giggled, and trotted out after him. "Like who?"

Adar led away from the village, in the direction of a shimmering ribbon in the near distance that they'd seen as a river from above. He angled them toward the forest that it emerged from, letting her set the pace.

"I'm not sure who might be there," he replied. "But it's been a favorite spot for as long as I remember whenever we could slip away from our chores. I think you'll like it."

Zillah trotted along eagerly at a brisk pace, relaxing and looking around the area. "This is a nice planet. I never saw anything like it back at home. But then I never had much chance to visit many planets. Especially since the big war just finally ended..."

Adar looked over at her again in silence as they ran, the warm breeze ruffling through his fur, then shook his head minutely. "Well, don't have to worry about anything like that here," he said, "The last time anyone tried anything around Arama was a few centuries ago and they had a pretty unpleasant surprise when a thousand or so Furies showed up to end it." He chuckled at the memory. They never forgot their home. Ever.

They reached the forest shortly and passed into the dappled shadow of the tall trees, the sounds of exotic and unknown animals going silent in their approach and then resuming as they passed. The low rush of the river could be heard off to the right, approaching as they angled toward it, and more recognizable sounds rose to hearing at last. Laughter amid the cascade of water.

Zillah smiled as they approached, and said, "Well, Siberia's really cold, and Balzac's just got lots of farms, and Toronto's full of one big city with billions and billions of people..."

"Hunting and farming's about all that happens here," Adar said, "But there's a lot of different ways to go about it with all the terrain to choose from. Not to mention all the other benefits that come out of a relaxed society."

One of those benefits apparently being the scene that opened before them as they broke out of a thick mass of trees into a wide open space that ended at a cliff rising forty or so feet above.

The river cascaded in a waterfall from the top of the small cliff, forming a crystal clear pool at its base and continuing merrily on its way. A good dozen younger wolfen were currently engaged in a water fight in the pool, splashing each other in gay abandon or ducking beneath the surface and swimming around to try and get a surprise attack.

Zillah stopped nearby and looked on at the spectacle with a grin, just standing back and watching for a moment.

It continued a minute more until they noticed the new arrivals, at which a hush quickly spread. Adar donned a scowl, scanning over them with his eyes as he stepped forward.

One of them, perhaps younger or more guilty minded, pointed to one of the others and loudly proclaimed, "She started it!"

"I did not!"

"Did too!"

"Nuh-uh, he did!"

The scowl vanished like a cloud before the sunlight, and Adar laughed. "Do I look like your parents sent me out to haul you back by the ears?" He chuckled at several guilty expressions as silence descended again. "I just brought someone along to visit and have a swim. Say hello, Zillah."

Zillah giggled and gave a friendly wave, "Hi!" She bounced over to the edge of the water. "I'm Zillah," she said, smiling at them.

She might be new and exotic, but after a quick glance toward Adar to make sure that he _hadn't_ come for them, the wolfen gathered near in recognition of a kindred soul and a possible playmate. They tended to grow faster than humans, so even the one nearest her age was taller, but that didn't dissuade them from motioning her in and starting a babble of introductions.

Zillah took it all in stride and proceeded to dive in with her own wild abandon and made herself at home.

Adar just grinned and ambled off to the side, removing his coat and then settling comfortably on the ground to keep an eye out. There were still things out here that could hurt young wolfen, much less a human, and he wasn't about to take a chance of the girl getting hurt... Sharra'd kill him! He'd pretty much figured the whelps would take her in, that's just the way things were here.

The young wolfen did indeed make her feel welcome, as eager to add her to their rough and tumble water games as they would be another member of their clan in the sun-warmed water. With their wet, bedraggled fur, it wasn't immediately clear which were male and female by appearance alone, but Zillah could easily start to pick out details and differences, as well as identifying the unique patterns of their markings.

So Zillah had fun. In spite of her statement about not having been around water much, she seemed to be a good swimmer, and was quicker and stronger than one would generally think from looking at her. Her black Death Dancer outfit functioned well enough as a bathing suit, having clearly been designed with multiple environments including water in mind.

Adar vanished for a few minutes along the way, drawing a momentary stir of attention as one of the others saw him get up, looked toward the top of the small cliff, and then leapt up there. General entertainment resumed quickly enough, however, and it wasn't until the forest's shadow began to creep across the pool that the bubbling energy waned and tapered off.

There was an ironclad rule about sunset, and they weren't about to disobey it with the return somewhere along the way of the Quattoria. Reluctantly the group began to break up, shook themselves off and began to dry out, then headed off in ones and twos back in the direction of the village.

Zillah strolled off cheerfully back in that direction, thinking again about food and absently calculating calories spent over the time she was here and nutritional requirements.

Adar retrieved his jacket and put it on, moving to keep pace with Zillah and waiting until they were out of range of any of the other wolfen before digging something out of his pocket and offering it to her. It was a yellowed fang, about four inches long, the roots cut neatly away as though by a laser.

"Thought you might want to see one of the reasons we keep the young on a curfew around here," he remarked.

Zillah took it and looked over it and asked curiously, "What's it from?"

"Soderoth," Adar replied, "Big felines, males weigh in at eight to nine hundred pounds, females are larger. They usually stay in the mountains but wander down now and again and inevitably cause trouble. Heard something moving around above the waterfall earlier and went to take a look, found one. Doubt it would have come near though, way too much noise for them." He chuckled.

"Oh, I see," Zillah said. "Too bad I missed it, then. I've never seen a wild animal before..."

Adar thought that over, remembering what she'd already said about what she'd seen before, then nodded, "I'm sure something can be arranged, festival's not for a few days anyway and I'm sure Mom will want to stay at least a couple days after. If she decides to leave..." He trailed off, thoughtful.

Zillah raised an eyebrow and said, "What do you mean?"

Adar glanced toward the village in the distance, the setting sun giving the stonework a warm glow, then answered quietly, "She could stay, if she wanted to. Council would never even know about it, and the Tribunal wouldn't say a word with her shield gone. She could never leave the planet, but..."

"Well, that would suck," Zillah opined. "It's a nice planet, but I wouldn't want to stay here forever if I were her... there's a whole universe out there, lots of universes that I've never seen or heard of yet..."

"She probably would've agreed with you when she was younger," Adar chuckled quietly. "And I doubt her reply will be any different, other than reasons for doing it." He shook his head, sure of it, but he'd have to make the Speaker's offer.

"Lots of stuff to see and do, and I want to see it all. Well, at least, as much as might conceivably be possible in the next several hundred years or until someone manages to kill me at any rate, I guess, or until I get bored."

Adar chuckled. "Several hundred years? Trust me when I say you can go longer than that and not even touch a part of what's out there. I'm sure the same thing can be said for each of the dimensions that the various rifts and wormholes lead to."

"Well, my grandmother's five hundred years old, and she's the oldest Death Dancer that ever lived..."

"You should tell that to _her_ ," Adar said, grinning. "I'm sure that'll make her feel all young and energetic again..." Of course he'd better be ready to run if Zillah did, but it'd be worth seeing her reaction.

"Most Death Dancers don't live that long," she went on. "Only four of my sisters even lived to be a hundred... but then, they're hardly a very good cross-section of Death Dancer society..."

"Quattoria aren't a good cross-section for wolfen society either," Adar chuckled, "People who go out and do dangerous things either tend to get dead very young or very good at what they do."

As they approached the village the breeze carried a perfume of cooking food, and he grinned after taking a sniff of it.

Zillah sniffed at the air and grinned faintly. "I had twenty-five sisters... three of them are still alive, two are missing and presumed dead, but they might still be alive somewhere. The rest are definitely dead."

"Twenty five sisters? Quite the family," Adar replied, tilting his head to catch glimpses of wolfen moving here and there in the deepening dusk, and chuckled. "Well I hope you worked up an appetite. Looks and smells like the village is going all out tonight to welcome us home. Even if we don't eat, it's a good enough reason to throw a celebration, and there'll be plenty of food to go around."

"Oh, yes, I'm sure I could eat plenty. I require an optimal intake of twenty thousand calories per day in order to maintain proper physical function."

Adar laughed. "Then lets hurry on in and see what they're cooking up!"

He quickened the pace a little, looking forward to all the other things that went with these homecomings... music, dancing, family... all the little things that really made his job worth every ounce of flesh he'd paid.


	3. Feasts and Festivities

Zillah climbed out after her, stretching a bit as well and giving a look around their immediate vicinity. "Nice place," she commented quietly. "So this is where you're from?"

"Yes," Sharra replied quietly, then tilted an ear at a faint noise which drew her eyes upward as well. At first it might be considered an illusion, a flicker of red and orange that might have come from a ship entering the atmosphere, but the contrail which emerged would dispel that. "Hmm," she murmured thoughtfully, watching its course to see where it might go... and coming to the conclusion that it was here or somewhere near indeed.

Zillah looked to where she's looking, and raised an eyebrow. "What is it?" Zillah asked.

"Ship," Sharra replied, frowning. "And we don't exactly get a lot of traffic out this way..." The timing seemed a little too coincidental as well, but she didn't say that, instead telescoping her sight to get a view of the thing. "Oh damn," she muttered and sighed, then moved to lean up against the ship with her arms folded.

"Something wrong?" Zillah asked, looking up at it again and over to her warily, frowning a bit at her reaction.

"There's still a few days til the festival, little one," Sharra replied, looking upward to follow the path of the ship that was descending with deliberate care but gradually resolved itself into a narrow, elongated arrowhead shape that was clearly heading for the same field. "I didn't expect a Fury to show up this soon."

Zillah stared at it as well and asked, "What's a Fury?"

As it approached, a faint hum could be heard from its engines and its skin was revealed to have a shimmering quality to it that reminded Zillah of the same sort of metal she'd seen when Sharra had shown her the neural shunt. It was outer edges ripple and curve, shifting its aerodynamic profile as it settled gently to land.

"Quattoria interceptors," Sharra replied softly, her eyes intent on the ship as she continued, "Fast, maneuverable, tough as hell, lethal to anything organic since there's no inertial compensators... and each one having a personality of its own." She shook her head and pushed away from the Darknova, offering a tight smile. "May as well see who's come looking for me." She headed casually in that direction.

Zillah fell into step after her quietly, continuing to frown a bit and staring at the thing curiously.

As they drew near, a hole rippled open in the side of the craft and a wolfen swung out in an arc to land on the ground. His build was considerably heavier than Sharra's but the clothing was definitely the same, clearly what they consider a uniform. Black fur carried hints of blue in it beneath the warm sun, and light danced off of the symbol at the left side of his chest.

Seeing him, Sharra smiled broadly and quickened her step. "Adar? What're _you_ doing here?"

A smile answered her own, but he didn't otherwise move as he replied, "Who else would have volunteered to watch that helljump until you showed back up?"

Zillah stopped frowning and raised an eyebrow, moving up behind Sharra to see him. "Er. Hello," she said tentatively.

Sharra's ears flicked forward at his statement, reading more into that than was obviously apparent, but it didn't stop her from stepping close and hugging the dark wolfen. "It's still good to see you," she said softly.

Adar hugged her back. "Yeah well, I figured you'd skin me alive if I wasn't here to welcome you, so..." He shrugged, drawing away, and tilted his head down to look at the human girl curiously at the greeting. "Who'd you bring with you, Mom?"

Sharra chuckled, turning so she could introduce them. "Adar, this is Zillah Jordan. Zillah, this hulking mass of fluff is Adar, general troublemaker and schemer since he was a pup."

Zillah smiled to him and gave a wave. "Pleased to meet you. I think," she said, a little uncertainly and somewhat confused about the entire matter.

Sharra grinned, looking from one to the other of them. "I'm going to see about getting things unloaded, you mind showing her around a little while I do that, Adar?"

Adar chuckled. "Nah, not a problem, and I won't even show her all the trouble you can get into around here, promise." Sharra chuckled and started off, but he interrupted quietly, "Before you go though, I need your shield."

Sharra stopped mid-stride, her wince echoed by various signs in body language, but she turned back. "Speaker give the order?" she asked softly, and at his nod she reached into the breast pocket of her coat and reluctantly handed him the specialized badge she'd carried for so long.

"Look, I'm..." he began, but she raised a hand to stop him, donning a smiling mask, then turned to head back to the task she'd decided on. "Damn," he muttered and sighed, looking at the thing in his hand, then tucked it into a pocket.

Zillah watched the exchange silently and raised an eyebrow once she'd turned back. She had to figure just how confused Sharra must have been as well upon arriving in her own galaxy. "What was that all about?" Zillah murmured quietly.

Adar looked down at her speculatively, his eyes mirroring those of his mother as he considered her own nature and unlikelihood of traveling with someone who wasn't worth the effort. He half-smiled and gestured to the village.

"Let's go poking around and I'll tell you on the way. It seems pretty simple from first glance, but there's a lot more to it than most would realize... probably why the Speaker asked me to do it." He shook his head and started walking, composing his thoughts.

Zillah gave a nod and went to quietly follow after him pensively. She kept her head high and looked up and about at everything there was to see, calmly taking in everything.

The village was becoming more lively as the heat of the day faded further, wolfen of all sizes and ages scurrying out to go about various errands or to poke their muzzles curiously in the direction of the new arrivals. Adar was definitely recognized, he shared brief greetings with numerous people along the way, but their curiosity regarding the true stranger in their mist was an almost palpable thing.

"I'm going to assume she's told you a bit about us, both wolfen and Quattoria, at least enough to know what those mean," Adar said. "So going from there... Quattoria are issued a shield, a badge, when they're first converted. They're impossible to forge and stay with the same wolfen throughout their life. They provide access to a lot of places, in fact that's what got you two through the mines back there."

Zillah gave a nod and said, "I see, I think." She smiled gently back at some of the attention she seemed to be receiving. "Does that mean we wouldn't be able to get back?"

"Not on your own, no," Adar replied, then laughed and took a quick step back as a young wolfen went streaking by, a group of others in hot pursuit and barely seeming to notice the newcomers in the thrill of the chase. "I'll be escorting you back, though," he added after they start walking again, then looked down at her. "I don't suppose anything's happened since she left that I should be warned about? The shield also records anything the bearer sees and does," he explained quietly, reluctantly, as though thinking something over, then added in an apparent aside, "Sometimes they get lost, though..."

"I don't know what you mean," Zillah said. "Like what? I don't know what was she was up to before she came and saved me from the Cybions who were trying to abduct me..." She shrugged.

Adar snorted and shook his head, quirking a grin. "I should have known better, and she'd knock me a good one for even asking, so how about keeping it quiet?"

Not for asking, he knew, but for the silent offer he'd made, _that_ she'd knock him for a loop on, but... family. What good was duty if you didn't have someone out there to apply it to?

Their path wended through the low-lying, smooth-cut stone buildings of the village, the wolfen populace remaining brightly curious as to Zillah's presence but not pressing it as she was accompanied by a friend of the clan.

"Well, here we are," he said, walking toward another of the buildings at the far edge of the village, the grounds well-tended and a garden sprouting a brilliant array of colorful flowers.

Zillah was confused about the entire matter but didn't say anything more about it, giving a good look over the garden. Although she'd made regular trips to Balzac and Siberia, she'd never really spent much time on actual planets, and Siberia was hardly what one would call scenic or friendly for tourists.

"There's a couple places that we stay when we visit," Adar said, walking up and opening the archaic wood door. "But she gets this one when she's in town."

There were a couple steps to descend into the main living area, the buildings that had seemed so short for the height of the wolfen suddenly making much more sense now. 

Open windows let in a great deal of light and fresh air, the scent of flowers as well as the spices and other things growing in the garden lending an earthy tone. It was simply but comfortably furnished, and examples of what the wolfen considered appealing in wall hangings and other decorations brightened the room.

"Make yourself comfortable," he said, "Can I get you something to eat or drink?"

Zillah strolled inside, relaxing and looking around, and said, "Oh, sure, if you like. It has been 2.3 hours since I have consumed nutrition."

Adar looked at her strangely, ears tilted, then shook his head. "Sure thing," he said, walking to one of the doors leading out of the living room and opening it to reveal a spacious kitchen, then chuckled. "Mom always was a lousy cook, so she insisted on installing a replicator here to avoid tormenting guests. Of course she made sure to put out her finest when 'favorite' relatives dropped by..." the last was quite dry. "Any particular preference?" he asked.

Zillah shook her head, more curious as to what the local cuisine might be than interested in eating yet another pizza at the moment.

"Alrighty then," Adar said. "Go with an old classic then, should keep you going until the folks hereabout put together a welcome feast. Two of us here is surprise enough, just wait until the rest of the clan shows up."

He chuckled, emerging with a plate that had the familiar combination of a burger and fries as well as a glass with a malted topped by whip cream and a cherry.

Zillah smiled and thanked him and proceeds to eat, and said, "Is the idea of shoving a piece of meat in between two pieces of bread so common, or is this another one of those 'alternate timeline' things people kept mentioning when the Interdimensional Bridge opened up?"

Adar laughed. "Don't ask me, I've wondered about that myself every time I've wandered through one of the three thousand or so rifts and found something familiar. Guess there's just some things that transcend space and time." He chuckled. "'Course they weren't around when I was a pup, and from the way the young ones go at it I can guess I missed out on something."

Zillah munched away and said, "It's interesting, I suppose. But then, I'm no scientist, nor really care to be." She shrugged.

"You won't get a lot of argument from my family on that one," Adar said. "Maybe arguments on anything else under the million suns, but not that..." He grinned. "You'll see what I mean when the others show up. Should be in plenty of time for the festival, unless they were out of range of any subspace relay."

"Heh. Nobody in _my_ family was ever a scientist," Zillah said. "Most of them were Death Dancers..."

Adar settled into a comfortable crouch nearby, tilting his head, "And what's a Death Dancer?"

The pose seemed to be a common thing for them, and the furniture would seem to support that as it was mostly comfortable cushions and a couple couches that looked perfect for the larger wolfen to sprawl out on.

Zillah indicated the symbol in red on her chest, and said, not without a touch of pride, "The Dancers on the Edge of Death are warriors who uphold freedom and justice for all people."

"Do they now?" Adar asked rhetorically, his expression thoughtful, "I suppose Mom's already looking at joining them?" Maybe the thing with the shield wouldn't be such a blow after all, he mused, smiling faintly.

Zillah snickered softly. "Sort of, I guess. She seemed rather attached to what she already was..."

Adar's ears laid back at that and he nodded. "Yeah, I guess she would at that. She's seen a lot of change over her career, but some things never will." He shook his head. "I'll tell you, go for scientist before you ever get into politics. Keep your sanity and soul intact."

Zillah finished up eating and raises an eyebrow, and said, "Well, I wasn't planning on being a politician, anyway. I wouldn't be very good at it. I'd end up threatening all my opponents at gunpoint out of habit."

Adar smirked. "You wouldn't be the first one to think about that. Anyway," he made a chopping gesture, cutting that line off. "Out of curiosity, how old are you? I may be a little fuzzy on human aging, but I wouldn't put you past the early teens and that seems kind of strange to be traveling with a Quattoria."

"I am thirteen years old," Zillah said. "I just turned thirteen last month."

"So what are you two doing traveling together?" Adar asked, clearly puzzled and frowning. "I know just the kinds of things we get into all the time, and I can't believe Mom would put you in danger like that..."

"I am a Dancer on the Edge of Death," Zillah said. "I have been training in combat, piloting, and psionics since before I could walk..."

"I see," Adar replied, though it was clear that he didn't, undoubtedly planning to confront Sharra later with some very pointed questions. Again he changed subjects with a gesture, grinning. "Say, do you like to swim?"

"Swim," Zillah repeated. "Well. I know how to, but I didn't really get much chance to do so on Epsilon Station. There were not frequently large freestanding bodies of water on board the space station."

Adar snorted, pushing himself upright. "Well where's the fun in that? It's been such a nice day out, and with the arrivals I can bet that the adults have shooed the younger off to deal with things, so I know just the place if you'd like to see it. One of my favorites as a pup, in fact."

"Okay!" Zillah said cheerfully, bouncing to her feet with a grin. "I wanna see."

"C'mon then," Adar replied with a grin, heading for the door. "Give you a chance to meet some of the others too, I'm sure, who're more than happy that we showed up to throw their schedules off-course."

Zillah giggled, and trotted out after him. "Like who?"

Adar led away from the village, in the direction of a shimmering ribbon in the near distance that they'd seen as a river from above. He angled them toward the forest that it emerged from, letting her set the pace.

"I'm not sure who might be there," he replied. "But it's been a favorite spot for as long as I remember whenever we could slip away from our chores. I think you'll like it."

Zillah trotted along eagerly at a brisk pace, relaxing and looking around the area. "This is a nice planet. I never saw anything like it back at home. But then I never had much chance to visit many planets. Especially since the big war just finally ended..."

Adar looked over at her again in silence as they ran, the warm breeze ruffling through his fur, then shook his head minutely. "Well, don't have to worry about anything like that here," he said, "The last time anyone tried anything around Arama was a few centuries ago and they had a pretty unpleasant surprise when a thousand or so Furies showed up to end it." He chuckled at the memory. They never forgot their home. Ever.

They reached the forest shortly and passed into the dappled shadow of the tall trees, the sounds of exotic and unknown animals going silent in their approach and then resuming as they passed. The low rush of the river could be heard off to the right, approaching as they angled toward it, and more recognizable sounds rose to hearing at last. Laughter amid the cascade of water.

Zillah smiled as they approached, and said, "Well, Siberia's really cold, and Balzac's just got lots of farms, and Toronto's full of one big city with billions and billions of people..."

"Hunting and farming's about all that happens here," Adar said, "But there's a lot of different ways to go about it with all the terrain to choose from. Not to mention all the other benefits that come out of a relaxed society."

One of those benefits apparently being the scene that opened before them as they broke out of a thick mass of trees into a wide open space that ended at a cliff rising forty or so feet above.

The river cascaded in a waterfall from the top of the small cliff, forming a crystal clear pool at its base and continuing merrily on its way. A good dozen younger wolfen were currently engaged in a water fight in the pool, splashing each other in gay abandon or ducking beneath the surface and swimming around to try and get a surprise attack.

Zillah stopped nearby and looked on at the spectacle with a grin, just standing back and watching for a moment.

It continued a minute more until they noticed the new arrivals, at which a hush quickly spread. Adar donned a scowl, scanning over them with his eyes as he stepped forward.

One of them, perhaps younger or more guilty minded, pointed to one of the others and loudly proclaimed, "She started it!"

"I did not!"

"Did too!"

"Nuh-uh, he did!"

The scowl vanished like a cloud before the sunlight, and Adar laughed. "Do I look like your parents sent me out to haul you back by the ears?" He chuckled at several guilty expressions as silence descended again. "I just brought someone along to visit and have a swim. Say hello, Zillah."

Zillah giggled and gave a friendly wave, "Hi!" She bounced over to the edge of the water. "I'm Zillah," she said, smiling at them.

She might be new and exotic, but after a quick glance toward Adar to make sure that he _hadn't_ come for them, the wolfen gathered near in recognition of a kindred soul and a possible playmate. They tended to grow faster than humans, so even the one nearest her age was taller, but that didn't dissuade them from motioning her in and starting a babble of introductions.

Zillah took it all in stride and proceeded to dive in with her own wild abandon and made herself at home.

Adar just grinned and ambled off to the side, removing his coat and then settling comfortably on the ground to keep an eye out. There were still things out here that could hurt young wolfen, much less a human, and he wasn't about to take a chance of the girl getting hurt... Sharra'd kill him! He'd pretty much figured the whelps would take her in, that's just the way things were here.

The young wolfen did indeed make her feel welcome, as eager to add her to their rough and tumble water games as they would be another member of their clan in the sun-warmed water. With their wet, bedraggled fur, it wasn't immediately clear which were male and female by appearance alone, but Zillah could easily start to pick out details and differences, as well as identifying the unique patterns of their markings.

So Zillah had fun. In spite of her statement about not having been around water much, she seemed to be a good swimmer, and was quicker and stronger than one would generally think from looking at her. Her black Death Dancer outfit functioned well enough as a bathing suit, having clearly been designed with multiple environments including water in mind.

Adar vanished for a few minutes along the way, drawing a momentary stir of attention as one of the others saw him get up, looked toward the top of the small cliff, and then leapt up there. General entertainment resumed quickly enough, however, and it wasn't until the forest's shadow began to creep across the pool that the bubbling energy waned and tapered off.

There was an ironclad rule about sunset, and they weren't about to disobey it with the return somewhere along the way of the Quattoria. Reluctantly the group began to break up, shook themselves off and began to dry out, then headed off in ones and twos back in the direction of the village.

Zillah strolled off cheerfully back in that direction, thinking again about food and absently calculating calories spent over the time she was here and nutritional requirements.

Adar retrieved his jacket and put it on, moving to keep pace with Zillah and waiting until they were out of range of any of the other wolfen before digging something out of his pocket and offering it to her. It was a yellowed fang, about four inches long, the roots cut neatly away as though by a laser.

"Thought you might want to see one of the reasons we keep the young on a curfew around here," he remarked.

Zillah took it and looked over it and asked curiously, "What's it from?"

"Soderoth," Adar replied, "Big felines, males weigh in at eight to nine hundred pounds, females are larger. They usually stay in the mountains but wander down now and again and inevitably cause trouble. Heard something moving around above the waterfall earlier and went to take a look, found one. Doubt it would have come near though, way too much noise for them." He chuckled.

"Oh, I see," Zillah said. "Too bad I missed it, then. I've never seen a wild animal before..."

Adar thought that over, remembering what she'd already said about what she'd seen before, then nodded, "I'm sure something can be arranged, festival's not for a few days anyway and I'm sure Mom will want to stay at least a couple days after. If she decides to leave..." He trailed off, thoughtful.

Zillah raised an eyebrow and said, "What do you mean?"

Adar glanced toward the village in the distance, the setting sun giving the stonework a warm glow, then answered quietly, "She could stay, if she wanted to. Council would never even know about it, and the Tribunal wouldn't say a word with her shield gone. She could never leave the planet, but..."

"Well, that would suck," Zillah opined. "It's a nice planet, but I wouldn't want to stay here forever if I were her... there's a whole universe out there, lots of universes that I've never seen or heard of yet..."

"She probably would've agreed with you when she was younger," Adar chuckled quietly. "And I doubt her reply will be any different, other than reasons for doing it." He shook his head, sure of it, but he'd have to make the Speaker's offer.

"Lots of stuff to see and do, and I want to see it all. Well, at least, as much as might conceivably be possible in the next several hundred years or until someone manages to kill me at any rate, I guess, or until I get bored."

Adar chuckled. "Several hundred years? Trust me when I say you can go longer than that and not even touch a part of what's out there. I'm sure the same thing can be said for each of the dimensions that the various rifts and wormholes lead to."

"Well, my grandmother's five hundred years old, and she's the oldest Death Dancer that ever lived..."

"You should tell that to _her_ ," Adar said, grinning. "I'm sure that'll make her feel all young and energetic again..." Of course he'd better be ready to run if Zillah did, but it'd be worth seeing her reaction.

"Most Death Dancers don't live that long," she went on. "Only four of my sisters even lived to be a hundred... but then, they're hardly a very good cross-section of Death Dancer society..."

"Quattoria aren't a good cross-section for wolfen society either," Adar chuckled, "People who go out and do dangerous things either tend to get dead very young or very good at what they do."

As they approached the village the breeze carried a perfume of cooking food, and he grinned after taking a sniff of it.

Zillah sniffed at the air and grinned faintly. "I had twenty-five sisters... three of them are still alive, two are missing and presumed dead, but they might still be alive somewhere. The rest are definitely dead."

"Twenty five sisters? Quite the family," Adar replied, tilting his head to catch glimpses of wolfen moving here and there in the deepening dusk, and chuckled. "Well I hope you worked up an appetite. Looks and smells like the village is going all out tonight to welcome us home. Even if we don't eat, it's a good enough reason to throw a celebration, and there'll be plenty of food to go around."

"Oh, yes, I'm sure I could eat plenty. I require an optimal intake of twenty thousand calories per day in order to maintain proper physical function."

Adar laughed. "Then lets hurry on in and see what they're cooking up!"

He quickened the pace a little, looking forward to all the other things that went with these homecomings... music, dancing, family... all the little things that really made his job worth every ounce of flesh he'd paid.


	4. Desert Pilgrimage

Sharra returned a short while later with a couple packs and other items that she set nearby. She dug out a helmet that she set over near Zillah, then dug out a harness that she started securing around her neck, shoulders, and waist.

"Should be everything we need for the outing," she said, testing the straps carefully.

"Where are we going?" Zillah asked, looking over the things Sharra had brought thoughtfully and curiously.

"North a couple hundred miles," Sharra replied, tightening the firth at her waist a notch and then nodding in satisfaction. "Smack dab in the middle of the desert, to be semi-precise. Plenty of food and drink for you in the packs, and the helmet will help keep you protected on the way. With flight being restricted to emergency use only, sometimes we have to get creative."

"Emergency use only?" Zillah asked. "We're going to _walk_ a couple hundred miles?"

Sharra grinned. "Pretty much, yep. Well, to be honest, I'll be doing the walking, you get to ride in comfort." she motions to the harness, and with a little imagination it _could_ be seen as a humanoid carrier. "I could get us there in about an hour, but I'll take a nice leisurely pace that'll get us there in a couple."

Zillah made a face at that, not so much at the idea of the trip itself, but at the idea of being carried like that.

Sharra laughed. "It'll be fun, trust me, I've done this before, though Adar just about wet himself the first time." The laughter faded to a chuckle as she snagged one of the packs and threaded her arms through it, settling its weight at her chest.

"I"m perfectly capable of walking myself," Zillah said with a faint smirk, then sighed. "But okay."

Sharra smiled. "There's advantages to the way I was built, little one, may as well take advantage of them now and again." She motioned to the other pack with her muzzle. "You get that one, and don't forget the helmet, visor down to seal the system and let you breathe easy."

Zillah was confused about that. "What do I need that for?"

"Even at a 'leisurely' pace," Sharra explained, "We're going to be hitting around a hundred miles per hour, that creates a pretty significant wind that can suck your breath right away, not to mention the hazards of wind-borne debris and insects."

Zillah shrugged a bit and decided not to make any further arguments or complaints and got to that.

Sharra watched her settle everything, checked the seal of the helmet and the filters for safety, then nodded. "Looks good." Turning her back, she crouched down, pointing out the stirrups hanging at her waist to step into and the straps at her shoulders to slip arms through and hang onto.

Zillah climbed on tentatively, feeling rather embarrassed about the entire business.

Sharra looked over her shoulder as Zillah settled, making sure she was firmly in place before standing once more. "We'll take it easy for a few miles, make sure you're comfortable before I pick up the pace," she said, trotting lightly off toward the north. "It'll actually be a smoother ride when I speed it up, not as much contact with the ground then."

Zillah settled in as best as she could and hung on, and watched the scenery as they went. The ride was a lot smoother than might be expected, Sharra's own body compensating for the greater part of each impact against the ground even at lower speeds. She waited for a few miles, carefully monitoring Zillah, then with a brief warning she shifted into higher gear, leaning forward into the run as speed built and the land began to pass much quicker.

At that point the ride became almost totally smooth, long strides barely touching the ground to continue their forward motion... though the wind whipping past did lend some wisdom to the idea of the helmet. Zillah still found the idea very strange, as well as the concept of not flying, but she was content to try to enjoy the ride or something.

It didn't seem to bother Sharra at all, and she showed no inclination to slow as they began to leave the grasslands and entered drier scrublands. The plant life here was much more sparse, struggling to survive in the rising heat of the band nearer the equator and the lesser water. It eventually gave way to rolling dunes, featureless other than the occasional rock or strange, globular outcropping.

The dunes didn't slow their advance. Even with the weight involved her feet were in contact with the surface for too short a time to allow the shifting sands to draw them down or slip treacherously beneath them. She did begin to slow, however, as a shadow grew in the desert before them. That shadow resolved itself into a change of terrain, a most interesting one that Zillah got a good look at as Sharra comes to a halt.

Beneath them the ground has firmed to a sandstone-like rock, and they came to rest standing at the edge of a cliff which dropped down some hundred or so feet below. The cliff extended for miles in either direction, curving and jutting irregularly out into the rocky barrens beyond. That barren had its own interest, though, in the pillars that seemed to grow from it at odd intervals, their sides streaked with a wide range of colors.

Zillah tried to get a good look at the landscape from where she was curiously, finding it rather interesting. The harness arrangement readily allowed her to get a good look over Sharra's shoulders or, if she pushed up in it she could see over her head.

Sharra glanced back at her, a grin surfacing. "So, do we take the high road or the low road? Up to you, pup, though the low road would let you make your own way even if the view won't be quite as good."

"How much further?" Zillah asked, gazing about the area with fascination.

"Another ten miles, perhaps," Sharra replied. "There's an... oasis, I suppose, and that's where we're going. I can travel the tops of the pillars without any great difficulty, I've done it before, or we can go down the cliff and take the ground route."

"The latter, I think," Zillah said.

Sharra chuckled lightly and crouched. "Alright then. Hop off and we'll get down to it. I brought some climbing gear along just in case."

Zillah climbed off and stretched a bit, looking forward to being able to actually see something and not just have it all run past in a blur.

Sharra removed her pack and removed some light, high-test rope as well as a device to secure it and a rappel, then slung the pack back over her shoulders across her back this time. She walked over to the cliff edge, scanning the nearby rocks before firing a piton into it, checking its stability, then tying the rope off.

"There you go," Sharra said, throwing the rope over the edge and watching over the side to make certain it uncoiled. "Going down will be easy. Climbing back will be a bit harder." she chuckled.

Zillah shrugged a bit and proceeded to head down nonchalantly. May as well, she figured. Sharra stayed near the top, watching as the girl descended and alert for any signs of trouble or danger from local predators. Zillah shimmied down easily enough and without any trouble, though, and she nodded before moving to one side and taking a quick hop off the edge. She hadn't really been able in recent years to just indulge in the small potentials of enjoyment as a cyborg...

Falling free in the air and using the time to twist and turn through a few different patterns, now _that_ was entertainment. The place she'd chosen to land was rock, and it cracked as she slammed into it on her feet with a momentary wince.

"The poor ground," Zillah commented jovially, giggling a bit.

Sharra chuckled. "It'll live. I've been wanting to do that every time I've come this way, never got around to it though." She shrugged, taking a look around at the semi-shaded area they were in. "Ah, keep an eye out for those," she said, pointing to a globular plant similar to what was back in the desert. "Bloodbrush. Nasty little things."

"What do they do?" Zillah said, looking.

"Stay there a minute, I'll show you," Sharra replied.

Sharra walked toward the thing, and when she was about four feet away, Zillah could see some sort of movement down near its base, very subtle and furtive, but when she got within around two feet there was a sudden flurry as tendrils snapped out to lash and tied themselves around Sharra's foot.

"That's the first thing," she said calmly, reaching down to grab a tendril. She pried it away and turned the thing up, motioning Zillah near for a look. "See the little thorns? They inject a paralytic and digestive enzyme, the circular suckers then drink their prey."

"Well, that's pleasant and friendly. Not only do you have to worry about the animals, but the plants too." Zillah smirked.

"Yeah, isn't alien flora just all _kinds_ of fun?" Sharra chuckled. "Only place in the world they grow, and never seen them anywhere else, but that's good enough since they can paralyze a full-grown wolfen." She shook her head, then walked over to the thing. "Just for curiosity, let's see what this little thing's been eating lately."

She reached into the densely packed plant, snagging the four spare feeding tendrils it had.

"Well look at that," she murmured.

She motioned Zillah near again to look into it, where a creature that looked like a cross between a snake and a lizard was held firmly in two tentacles and was being eaten at the moment... apparently alive, as it was still twitching.

"That's something else to keep an eye out for," Sharra said. "Sneaky and poisonous."

Zillah looked at the thing curiously raising an eyebrow. "I'll be sure to do that," she assured her with a faint grin.

Having encountered and explained two of the more common and sneakier variants of dangerous inhabitants of the desert, Sharra set them back off in a northerly direction again. Even though the sun had yet to reach beyond a couple hours past dawn it was already quite warm here, promising for scorching temperatures later in the day if they were caught without any sort of shade. She didn't seem particularly worried about it, in fact in quite good spirits overall as their path threaded through shallow gullies and around the irregular pillars composed of streaked limestone and harder rock.

"This whole place was underwater a long time ago," Sharra remarked, gesturing at one of the pillars in passing. "Dig into one of those and you'll find fossils that're millions of years old."

Zillah was fascinated by everything and took a good look at everything around as they move along. She was clearly fairly impressed -- although fairly easily impressed regardless -- by just about everything.

It might be old and familiar to Sharra, but she remembered the wide-eyed exuberance of the young and was glad to see that spark flare to life in Zillah... the Cybions hadn't managed to kill _all_ of the child within her! Their pace ate the distance to their destination quickly, and Sharra spent the time pointing out and explaining the other residents of the desert. Yes, just about everything was poisonous and has teeth. Many teeth.

The oasis opened out before them as they climbed a rise that led from a wide gully, a shocking area of green and brilliant colors in the drab surroundings. Sunlight flashed from the surface of a mile-wide pond that was clearly the source of this sudden bounty in the midst of famine.

"Remember all the things I've pointed out that're hostile, deadly, and just plain obnoxious?" she asked.

Zillah gave an attentive nod, and started diligently reciting back a list at her.

Sharra laughed and held up a warding hand. "Easy, little one, it wasn't a test, just more of a note of interest. Once we get down there..." she looked to the oasis and tilted her muzzle toward it, "the rules no longer apply. There's an unspoken treaty of sorts down there. Anything is welcome and nothing kills anything else on pain of its own existence." She hitched the backpack at her shoulders and started down.

"Oh, I see," Zillah said, looking off in that direction thoughtfully. "How is that, then?"

"You'll see," Sharra replied with a teasing grin.

There was a reason to it, sure enough, and that was her own reason for bringing Zillah out here in the first place. The remaining distance passed quickly and the cooler shade of the swaying trees enfolded them in welcoming tranquility... a tranquility that seemed almost a physical thing, a gift and a warning in one. Small animals could be seen moving all around them, if quietly.

Zillah came along quietly, wide-eyed and taking in everything. "Wow," she breathed as she looked around the place.

"Lots of edible plants here," Sharra remarked, walking through the trees in the direction of the pond they'd seen and could catch glimpses of. "Even the strictly carnivorous species can survive on some of the things in here, if they wanted to. Most only come for the water, though, and instinct takes them back out into the waste."

Sharra smiled and shook her head. The idea had always seemed odd to her, but then she knew the source as well. They emerge from the trees, the day seeming no warmer than it had in the shade through some odd illusion, and out into the hundred or so feet of grassy ground that surrounded the water. It wasn't so much a pond as a small, crystal clear lake, the water pure enough to see to the bottom even at its deepest point. The bowl was formed of crystals of all shapes and cool colors, only a dark tunnel at the center marring the glittering display. To one side was a rock outcropping that was unmistakably in the shape of a wolf's head, its mouth dark as it descended into the earth and its 'tongue' just below water level as though lapping for a drink.

Zillah stared in clear wonderment and murmured quietly, "What is this place?"

"It's had several names throughout history," Sharra replied, heading to the edge of the water and dipping her hand into the chilled liquid, "but now it's simply called 'Sanctuary'. The legends go along the lines that this was where the Spinner finally gave up, seeing what her progeny had become, and wept..." She wet her mouth with a handful of the water, "They say these are her tears."

Zillah crouched down by her, looking out over the area, and said, "Who?"

"One of the old gods," Sharra replied, removing her pack and sitting down to dangle her feet-paws in the water, the dust of the road flowing away and seeming to vanish without trace, " _the_ oldest, depending on which legends you pay attention to, the one who spun the fabric of the universe into a web and formed patterns from it, then added the random element of life to give it all purpose and beauty."

"Oh," Zillah said softly, sitting down beside her quietly. She wasn't really sure what to say, so she just sat there quietly and gazed off.

"Really makes you wonder," Sharra said, glancing over at Zillah with a small smile. "Every society seems to have a similar god somewhere in its pantheon. Have to wonder what's real and what's fiction in it."

A movement caught her eye near her pack and she swiped a warning hand and growled softly, one of the lizard-snakes hissing back at her and edging away from its investigation of the strange object.

"Why don't you get some food, and we can take a look in there when you're done," Sharra added, looking toward the wolf's head to indicate their next destination.

"Alright..." Zillah said, pulling out the food absently and starting to munch on it, but her mind clearly wasn't on the food.

Sharra made sure the little beastie was indeed content to stay away, then turned to watching the quiet serenity of the oasis as a whole. A pack of the low-slung, six-legged carnivores that she'd described to Zillah earlier emerged from the cover of the trees a good distance away and made its way to the water to slake thirst, other animals that would normally be prey being paid no attention whatsoever.

"You've been quite thoughtful on this trip, little one," Sharra said after a few minutes. "Merely examining the things you've seen, or has something more been on your mind?"

"Well, it's a lot to take in..." Zillah said. "I never saw anything at all like this back at home..."

Sharra nodded. "That it is. I've had a lifetime and more to get used to all the things here, I suppose that's a bit much to take in when you're mostly used to a space station." She chuckled softly. "That's what I wanted to show you, though, there's a whole lot more out there than what _they_ might have wanted you to see as important. A single world alone can have secrets and mysteries to pursue for many, many years."

Even one like Balzac, or Siberia?" Zillah asked, wondering just what sort of secrets the dull farm planet or the frozen iceball might be hiding.

"You might be surprised," Sharra replied. "Maybe nothing so exciting as scouring the ruins of an ancient civilization and delving into million year old mysteries, but there's still something to be said for learning the breath and heartbeat of a world. Each one is different, the plants and animals that make it up, the curiosities which rest beneath the surface."

"Really," Zillah said quietly, continuing to wonder. "I guess it's hard to tell sometimes, from space..."

"You can't always stay in space." Sharra smiled, drawing her feet from the water and stretching out to lay on her stomach, muzzle resting on folded arms. "It can't just be planetfall chasing one bounty or another, or making a combat drop into a hot zone either. You have to stop now and then to take a look around you to really _see_ what's there... like here. I spent a long time with the Quattoria, doing all the things they required, but... There was always a place in memory, a quiet spot in the heart that held everything I loved about this world and some of the others I've seen."

Zillah leaned back and drifted off, staring off at nothing in particular thoughtfully.

There were countless legends and tales that could be told, but Sharra let them slip through the fingers of her mind like the crystal waters of the Sanctuary, content to enjoy the day for just a little while. As the sun neared its zenith, she stirred, sitting up to rummage in the pack she'd carried until she found and drew out a gently humming canister.

"Shall we pursue a mystery?" Sharra asked, grinning.

"Alright," Zillah said, standing up slowly and stretching again. She was in no particular hurry at the moment.

Sharra took another sip of the clear water before rising with a soft sigh, her eyes flicking across the sun-bathed scene for a silent minute. Shouldering the pack once again, she idly tossed the cylinder in one hand and moved in the direction of the wolf's head.

"The cave extends far underground," she said. "I don't think anyone's ever mapped out just how far, if they'd even be allowed to." She chuckled.

Zillah gave a nod, and proceeded to follow on after her quietly, looking and watching everything as she went along. Sharra circled around the shore, stopping near the rough-hewn rock outcropping and resting a hand on it momentarily, then points to the mouth with a chuckle.

"Suppose it'd be symbolic in some way or another, and I just _know_ there's philosophers on the northern continent who've written endless diatribes on the topic." Sharra rolled her eyes. "Me, I just look at it as a nice little nature walk." She stepped out along the edge of the mouth, dangling precariously over the deeper waters below, then swung over to stand on the tongue. "Don't worry, it's not slippery," she said, then moved a bit into the mouth to make room.

Zillah followed, looking around and down at the water carefully, stepping after her. Sharra ducked to clear the lower ceiling as she began to descend the gentle slope that led in, the rocky ground providing plenty of traction despite the shallow streamlets of water that follow them. She straightened as the roof grew higher, the light of day coming from the mouth dimming as they proceeded further. As it threatened to fade to darkness, however, eyes adjusted and realized another light source had begun to grow in the gloom.

Ahead, flickers of multi-colored light danced and beckoned, the tunnel opening out onto a vast cavern with walls encrusted with crystals and gems of bewildering variety and hues. There were none of the stalactites or stalagmites that might be expected, the only nod to standard spelunker experience being a slightly raised pool at the center that glowed with a soft, silver light.

Zillah came after tentatively, curiously looking in toward what she saw before her wordlessly.

"This has never had a name," Sharra said softly, a hint of reverence etched in her voice as she walked quietly into the chamber, "But it's the one place we all go at least once in our lives, the pilgrimage..."

The walls continue to cast their flickering light, though it seemed dim and muted against the radiance of the pool, as though the waters deliberately sought to draw the eye and mind to them.

"Off-worlders may joke about dogs and the moon," she continued, stopping near the edge of the pool and gazing into it. "They'd have a laughing fit over this..." she chuckled, "To the hells with them."

With the light and the speckled earth beneath it, the pool might indeed be imagined as a reflection of one of this world's moons. Zillah quietly approached, not exactly laughing at all. She stared silently and moved slowly, looking on in something of amazement.

"And what have you brought me this time, young Sharra Silverhair?" a voice rasped, accompanied by a quite rustle and rattle from across the chamber.

Two red glowing orbs could be seen in the shadowed arch of a passage that must lead deeper into the labyrinth of passages that had been mentioned before, an outline of a wolfen form emerging... though something about it didn't seem quite right.

Zillah blinked in startlement, not having expected to find someone speaking to them here. She held her ground though and looked on curiously, wondering just who and what this was. Sharra shifted her gaze away from the pool, reaching over to rest a hand on Zillah's shoulder reassuringly.

"I was wondering if I'd see you this time, Ancient," Sharra said, "though I would have been surprised if not. This is Zillah Jordan, and..."

She stepped away, toward the shadowed figure, snapping the canister open to reveal a gently curving plant held in a protective, nourishing field. The newcomer looked from one to the other in silence, then reached forward to take the gift in a hand of pale, lifeless bone.

"You alone always bring me a gift of life," it said, the rasping softened as it looked at the shimmering tendrils of the plant and then gently sealed it again in its container.

The creature stepped fully into the light, the first glimpse holding true for the rest of it. Its skeletal frame was clearly wolfen in nature, and was clad in a simple flowing robe with an intricately woven pattern threaded through it. Various bangles of gold and other precious metals, as well as gems, decorated here and there, but they seemed to be more of an afterthought. Overall, the most intimidating aspect was the weight of the glowing red eyes that shifted to study Zillah.

Zillah looked back, her eyes wide but without a trace of fear, only curiosity and wonder. She stared on silently, wondering... Sharra began to say something, but was silenced by a suddenly raised hand by the creature, and she was uncharacteristically meek as she bowed her head and took a step back. Its attention remained fully centered on Zillah, head cocking to one side and giving a sense of quiet amusement.

"No screams? No terror of that which stalks the night? How truly odd your home must be." it... she said.

"I am a Dancer on the Edge of Death," Zillah replied simply, as if that explained everything.

"So I see," she chuckled dryly, how else would one expect a creature of bone to chuckle, anyway? "And what brings you here, young Zillah? Oh, I know why _she_ brought you here, but I'm curious to hear from your own lips what reason, what drive has carried you so far from hearth and home."

"Curiosity, perhaps," Zillah said quietly. "I don't think I really have a home, anyway."

"No, you simply fail to recognize it," she said, walking silently to the edge of the pool and opening the cylinder again to study the plant. A bony talon dipped into the pool, sending ripples across its surface and an image of a distant world rising in the mirrored reflection which returns after. "Do you think this cutting would call the world of its origin home?"

Zillah was confused, and said, "But, I'm not even from a planet... nor ever had much chance to spend much time on one..."

"Learn to look beyond harsh and simple fact, child," she reproved gently. "A world is no more a home than a station in the depths of space, nor a cavern in the darkest stygian depths, or a craft passing eternally from star to star. Or, in truer form, it could be any of those..."

Zillah thought quietly on that reflectively, mulling it over wordlessly and gazing down at the water.

The Ancient lifted the plant for inspection once more, her tone thoughtful. "This wayward and sundered spirit might find its home in any or none of those, depending whether it is given the soil and light needed to sustain and aid in its growth. Should those be found, it will gladly forsake its roots in favor of the life which lay before it." She chuckled. "Perhaps a bit heavy-handed imagery, but appropriate nonetheless."

Zillah looked up again, peering at the plant, then up at the being and raising an eyebrow. "So it is."

"Indeed it is," Sharra said softly, inclining her head to the Ancient.

The creature chuckled. "You've never asked for wisdom or advice, nor favor of any sort, I thought a two-for-one dose was appropriate on your last visit for a while." She shook her head, leaning against the edge of the pool, and returned her full attention to Zillah. "So, that was my question and stirring claw, do you have one for me?"

Zillah looked pensively up at her, and said, "I imagine there are plenty of things which I _could_ ask."

"The real question is which one you _should_ ask," the Ancient replied with faint amusement.

Zillah stared off for a moment pensively, but said, "No, I don't think there's anything I want to ask."

The Ancient cackled. "Sometimes the wisest choice of all!"

She dispelled the mirth, reaching to stir the surface of the waters once again and the image shifting to something more familiar from recent times, clearly a wolfen town on the edges of a dark and rolling sea.

"Go on," the Ancient said, suddenly sounding tired, and moved from the edge of the pool back into the shadows at the rear of the cave, though careful to take the gift with her. "Your purpose and reason here is fulfilled," she continued, "Walk the path of tears to find the blessings of life renewed."

Just as silently as she'd arrived, the sense of presence vanished without trace, though the image left behind continued to glimmer in the water.

Zillah watched the being leave quietly, and glances down at the water thoughtfully, before glancing over to Sharra.

"Don't look at me, little one," Sharra chuckled softly. "She's always been an enigma since the first time I came here, though never one that could be left without being a little wiser than when you came."

She shook her head, the game an old one where she pretended not to know, even as the Ancient pretended she didn't know that she knew... but so it went.

She nodded at the pool. "That's Port Benis, a day east of home by riverboat. I've never left this chamber by any other path, don't know why I assumed this would be any different. She's the reason I've seen some of the more obscure parts of this world."

"Some sort of portal?" Zillah asked, looking back to it and raising an eyebrow.

"Indeed it is." Sharra nodded. "Whether some function of the place or her own magic, no idea, but it's always been a safe passage... Well," she amended wryly, "at least the place it puts you is, that says nothing about getting back to where you want to go."

Zillah nodded quietly, continuing to look off at the thing.

Sharra considered it, remembering previous visits, then chuckled lightly. "Crone she may be, but I've never had a reason not to trust her." She shrugged and laid a hand just above the surface of the water. "All you have to do is touch it, and be willing to allow your passage. The rest is in her hands."


	5. A New Friend

The portal from the Ancient's lair was little different in effect from the warp gates of the Karzan, if coming from another source entirely. It had led Sharra and Zillah to Port Benis without any difficulty, though they arrived to find that the last rivership had already departed for the day. Sharra found little inconvenience in that, taking the opportunity to show the girl around the bustling port village.

It was still more primitive than might be expected but there were signs now and again of higher technologies, particularly the rivership that docked in the late afternoon. The hull was sleek and raised above the water while in motion by twin hydrofoils which let them make two round-trips to the headwater near Sharra's home daily. None travel by dark, though, and Zillah got treated to dinner at a quaint place called Bloody Zin's.

The restaurant was famous for its seafood, rightfully so as it was delicious, but lay in a rough neighborhood and had a history that fits the name. It had been named something else in Sharra's youth, but that was unsurprising as the sign was changed to reflect each new owner after the old one was killed. Definitely a rough neighborhood.

Little else of interest transpires through the night they stayed there, and the upstream journey the next morning was largely uneventful save for a momentary panic on the part of most of the crew and passengers as a river dragon was sighted. The giant serpentine creature didn't disturb them, seeming more intent on prey deeper in the waters than the much crunchier rivercraft.

Their return to the village was welcomed cheerfully, wolfen scurrying here and there to prepare the gathering grounds for the festival which would begin the next day. Already tents and booths had begun to be erected and the visiting population swelled as wolfen arrived along the roads in caravans for the celebration.

Zillah rather enjoyed the trip, but was happy to be back and looking forward to what might be coming up. She looked over at the visitors, watching curiously, and commented, "Look at all the people!" It had never really occurred to her to not think of non-humans as "people".

"The festival's a big event," Sharra said, her own attention turning to the gathering throngs with a quiet smile. "Part carnival, part tournament, part swap meet, it draws people from all of the villages east of the Divide every year. One day another village might host it, but that hasn't happened in quite a few years."

"Wow," Zillah said. "And they all come here and like, do stuff and have fun?"

Sharra laughed and nodded. "That's the whole point to a social gathering, little one. This one just mixes a bit of tradition and business into it, making it the one event that everyone wants to get to if they can."

She tilted her head, ears turning as she looked upward with a flicker of surprise as the low hum associated with Adar's arrival rose to her attention and a number of contrails could be seen far above.

Zillah looked up as well, following her gaze and asking, "What is it?" She raised an eyebrow.

"More guests," Sharra replied, clearly surprised by the fact. "Strange enough to see two of us here at one time, much less more..."

The contrails faded as the craft slow and descended quietly to the landing field nearby, a good eight or nine of the arrowhead-shaped Quattoria craft.

"Wow," Zillah said, staring over in that direction and watching them as they came down. "Who is it do you suppose?"

"No idea," Sharra replied thoughtfully, then shook her head. "Nothing to worry about, I'm sure. Let's go take a look around at the grounds. Should be someone open for trading food already and we can get a bit more work in on your multi-training."

"Okay!" Zillah said excitedly, quickly distracted from the prospect and bouncing off to go look for the food.

Sharra chuckled and trailed after, though not without a final glance back in the direction of the landing field as she wasn't quite so certain of their intent as she might have said. The carnival atmosphere had already begun to swell, and it swept any other thoughts away as they made their way through the growing maze of brightly decorated booths and tents, food aromas of all kinds seasoning the air in a heavy perfume.

Squat, six-legged loadbeasts trundled through the makeshift streets, drawing carts and wagons to different areas of the gathering grounds. Vendors hawking all sorts of wares could be found, as well as services from mundane such as smithing to exotic like fortune telling.

Zillah eagerly scrambled along, wanting to sample as many different things as she could get her hands on. Sharra indulged the whim, gladly trading on her name or other bits as the interest turned to them.

Time passed in a leisurely fashion, a steady stream of new arrivals adding to the growing din as they hurry to get settled in before nightfall. As the sun set, by silent agreement and tradition, things began to shut down and people returned to their temporary havens or villagers to their homes.

The festival would truly begin in earnest the next day with competitions of all kinds being attended by the eager crowds either as participants or observers/wagerers. Each village's arriving guests seemed intent on outdoing the next one with flash, energy, and sheer enthusiasm as the events began and the _real_ vitality of the festival emerged in full. 

Sharra made sure that Zillah saw and did all that she might wish or have the whim of pursuing, leaving the quieter hours of the night and early morning for physical training. At least Zillah had no great need for sleep if she was properly fed and in good condition, and was quite happy to continue training and such.

Sharra did leave Zillah to her own devices on the sixth night of the festival, vanishing for the evening after talking briefly with Adar. She left Zillah with a strained smile and an admonition to get some practice or rest as the girl saw fit, the following day was the traditional ending of the festival with the trials...

She returned in the small hours of the morning, quiet and subdued. The night had been a long one on several levels, but had settled a great many things for her and her demeanor seemed somehow more peaceful.

Zillah was curious as always, but only asked, "Where'd you go? If you don't mind me asking..."

Sharra looked at her in silence for a minute, then chuckled softly. "You've a right to ask if anyone does. The Speaker was one of those who arrived recently, as well as..." she shook her head minutely, "quite a few others of the Quattoria... and others. There were things to discuss, to resolve and close out, and they'll be leaving soon."

"Oh," Zillah said. "So what happened?"

Sharra smirked. "They offered me the head of one Thelanius Heren, to be delivered before we'll be leaving to return to your Karzan galaxy by the claw of one of the silent brotherhood. I suppose an apology for political expediency."

Zillah blinked for a moment, fairly confused.

"It was he who wanted my head after his kid was busted for his involvement in a genetic slavery ring," Sharra explained quietly. "It's all politics, and I hate the stink of it. I do have to give some credit to the Speaker and the silent brotherhood for making the offer though. There wasn't a lot they could do in the first place to keep the peace otherwise."

Zillah gave a bit of a nod, and said, "That's a good thing, right?"

Sharra waggled a hand. "In a way yes, in a way no. I respect them for the offer and the sincerity behind it, but I _can't_ respect their turning a blind eye to the law for it. I know politics were used against me, and I'd kill the man myself were there legal justification for doing so, but that's the point... What happens to society when the lawkeepers work around the very ideals they stand for?"

"I don't know," Zillah said, frowning a bit.

"Anarchy and chaos, little one," Sharra replied softly, "and I have too much respect for the law as a whole to let it be tarnished, even to address a previous wrong. The silent brotherhood treads dangerously on the line as it is, I refuse to let them tear into that fabric on my behalf. Once it begins to unravel... there's no turning back without a lot of bloodshed and suffering."

"Well... I hope that sort of thing doesn't happen back in Karzan..." Zillah said. "The war just finally ended, after all..."

Sharra grimaced. "Unfortunately, it's all the more likely to happen after a bloody war as people take the opportunity of a new regime to purge old hatreds and feuds. The Empress Talia seems a good woman, but she can't see and be everywhere to stop the excesses that are undoubtedly being perpetrated in her name. With luck they'll be relatively minor and localized, otherwise stability as a whole will suffer."

"I hope so..." Zillah said. "I suppose it all remains to be seen..."

"That's always the way." Sharra nodded, then grinned. "At any rate, are you ready for the day? I checked the schedule of events and you're set up for an hour after mid-day."

"Yup!" Zillah said excitedly, bouncing around eagerly.

Sharra laughed lightly. "That's the spirit! Let's go out and take a look around, see and enjoy a bit more of the festival before the events begin and you can get a look at the kind of fighting that goes on with the earlier matches."

Zillah nodded cheerfully and went to head out and take a look at things with her.

The prior days of the festival had been energetic enough, but the crowd possessed an almost hungry anticipation as they emerged and wandered a bit before the beginning of the events. Contrary to Sharra's expectations, the Quattoria who assembled didn't disperse and instead seem intent on enjoying the spectacle of the final day of the festival as well.

Everywhere they turned there seemed to be another one, it seems, and therewere literally hundreds of them scattered throughout the gathering. That in itself added another layer of energy, the wolfen from various villages inevitably gravitating to greet their own kin with some surprise and wonder at the sheer numbers present in a fashion that hadn't been seen since the Xiticix invasion centuries before.

Zillah was excited and raptly interested. It was about all she can do to keep from bouncing into orbit, practically.

Time passed and the main draw was inevitably the combat events that were scheduled to begin with the first rising of the sun. Wolfen of both sexes competed against each other with hardwood staves, the conflicts often short, brutal, and bloody... and drawing a great deal of enthusiasm from the spectators. Personnel remain vigilantly nearby to tended to the wounded, though anything less than severe injury was usually ignored.

The sun reached its zenith, then began to descend, and it was soon time for Zillah to take her own place in the hard-packed dirt circle. Her opponent was a female wolfen with glassy white and grey fur, her movements speaking of dedicated preparation for this event as she moved into the ring and tested the familiar weight of her staff.

"You're up," Sharra said, nudging Zillah forward, "Good luck." She settled to wait at the edge of the competition grounds, watchful and alert.

Zillah nodded eagerly and bounced forward to take her place, her own weapon in hand.

The female wolfen studied her opponent curiously, clearly not having been expecting a human of all things! There was no hostility to the appraisal, though, merely an interest in what twists might come her way from it and the clearly non-regulation metal-shod staff. Rules were simple for this event, anything was acceptable so long as there was no intent to cause serious harm or death.

She nodded to Zillah as a soft chime sounded to begin the match, then began to circle lightly with her staff held easily in her hands and ready for the first onset of battle.

As the first circle of combat swirled into motion Zillah found that her opponent wasn't as given to the overpowering approach as she might have anticipated, the female moving with deft and liquid movements to counter the girl's first halting offensive and landing several stinging blows with the staff.

Zillah moved in carefully, cautious and primarily on the defensive at the moment, probably a bit too much so. She brought back to mind the training sessions over the last some days, and all the years of training on Epsilon Station. But often, all the training in the world couldn't prepare you for what really ended up happening.

The last blow was perhaps the most devastating of all, as Zillah lost her grip and her weapon went sailing away... Her opponent didn't move to take advantage of it, though, instead taking a step back and offering a quirked grin and gesture toward the wayward staff. Zillah stumbled back under her attack, surprised. She sighed a bit and went to quickly retrieve her weapon and resume the fight.

The wolfen tilted her head, watching Zillah as she retrieved her weapon and then settling back into a ready stance as she approached again. Sacrificing a bit in defense and paying for it with a few solid whacks, Zillah did manage to beat down an attempted deflection and land a blow in the other's side that staggered her briefly.

Zillah was stubborn and continued to press the fight, shutting out the pain of the bruises she had taken so far with a bit of mental effort.

The strike to her side clearly had slowed the wolfen a bit, as her next series of attacks were considerably less precise and energetic. Zillah seemed to be feeling some strain from the continuing hail of the combat, however, and even one of the lessened thrusts struck a grazing blow.

Zillah did not seem to visibly react to the pain at the moment, leaving it for later to deal with. She tried to settle into the Death Dancer ideal of calm and fearlessness, attempting to ensure that her excitement didn't get the better of her and that she didn't get angry.

What turned out to be the final round of the combat was a series of well-placed strikes on both sides, but the female wolfen took advantage of her greater length of reach to avoid some of the force of Zillah's blows. A final feint drew Zillah's staff to one side as her opponent swept a foot out to trip and then quickly followed with a covering staff as the girl ended up on the ground.

A question sat in her eyes and was mirrored by the tilt of her ears, but she didn't say anything right away and neither did any of the judges immediately intervene to call the match.

Zillah stared up at the sky dizzily, barely managing more than suppressing the pain at the moment, and proceeding to see about putting her novice healing abilities to work on that matter as best as she could as she failed to manage much else.

The wolfen tilted her head, then chuckled and reached to offer a hand to Zillah, "Thanks for the fight," she said quietly, even as the chime sounded to signify the end of the match.

Zillah blinked for a moment as she snapped back to reality and accepted the hand up. "Yeah... you're pretty good!"

The other smiled broadly. "I've been waiting all year for this. I thought for sure I was going to worry myself to death." She nodded to the circlekeeper, then headed toward the edge of the ring to clear the way for the next competitors. "I don't want to pry or anything..." she added, shyly, though obviously curious.

Zillah raised an eyebrow and said, "No, go ahead, what is it?"

"I was just wondering why a human was taking part at all," she said, a bubbling rush of post-combat energy surging. "I mean, it really surprised me to see you in the ring at all, even if I saw you a couple times over the last few days since my family came in."

"Why not?" Zillah said, giggling a bit and glad that at least her own mental abilities were working even if she clearly needed a lot more training.

"I don't know, just seems kind of strange to me is all," she said, then grinned. "My name's Niri, by the way, pleased to meet you even if it was under such weird circumstances."

"I'm Zillah," she said. "Well, I can't say I'm really from around here. Well, obviously not from this planet, but not even from this universe exactly..."

Niri looked over at her in puzzlement. "That's even weirder then! I mean sure, this whole thing's really important for us wolfen, but why would you want to come to some total backwater planet in the deepest, darkest armpit of the Three Galaxies just to OOF!"

Her monologue was interrupted as she bumped into something, or rather some _one_ very solid, and she started to apologize before making a small noise and going silent. Sharra steadied the young wolfen, giving an arch look to show she'd heard the description she'd made of their homeworld, and then chuckled to ease the girl's sudden terrified paralyzation.

"Relax Niri," Sharra soothed. "I'm not going to bite." She glanced over at Zillah with amusement and nodded. "Well fought."

Zillah giggled and waved cheerfully to her, the disappointment of having her ass handed to her having quickly been forgotten. "It's a nice planet! And I came here with her." She indicated Sharra with a bit of a grin.

"Oh," Niri replied in a small voice, still more than a little embarrassed and uncertain. There were some things about their society that they took _very_ seriously, and coming face to face with one of them (literally!) had thrown her bubbling enthusiasm completely off the track.

Sharra looked at the two of them and just shook her head in amusement. "You two run along, go enjoy the last day of the festival." She pointed and added with mock severity. "And that's an order. You'll be expected at the central tent at sunset. Don't be late."

Zillah giggled and said, "Okay!" She bounced off and proceeded to start rambling about the Karzan Galaxy.

Niri followed after, relieved to escape without anything _else_ going wrong, and was more than happy to listen to Zillah's recounting of Karzan and natter on regarding the things she knew about the Three Galaxies as a whole and their colony planet specifically. It was pretty clear she wasn't intending to stay around on the homeworld any longer than she absolutely had to. Unless some other force intervened or directed... time passed.

Zillah was perfectly happy to ramble on about the Empire, the rebels, the Cybions, Epsilon station, Toronto, Balzac, Siberia, the Death Dancers, and any number of other things in the interim, and listened with interest to what Niri said.

Almost before they knew it, the sun was beginning to angle toward the horizon and the shadows began to lengthen with the approaching sunset. A familiar and companionable quiet had settled over the festival as a whole, the last of the events completed and people contemplating the return trip home as they wandered and enjoy the waning moments.

"Uh-oh," Niri said, looking to the sky, "Better hurry."

Zillah nodded in agreement and turned to head back.

The central tent was a hub of quiet activity as they approached, a line already beginning to form from the pairs that had faced off with each other. Two by two they entered the brightly colored tent, escorted by a wolfen who emerged from inside. Soon it was Niri and Zillah's turn, their escort leaving them at the center of the area facing the event judges as well as an equal number of Quattoria... Sharra oddly among them.

An older wolfen stepped from the circle of judges and approached them. "First I want to congratulate you both on a job well-done, and then I would offer reassurance that neither of you failed the test set before you."

Zillah beamed, although clearly a little confused, she was hardly in a mood to argue about it at the moment.

The elder smiled, nodding. "Though we who have taken this rite of passage before have agreed not to tell the aspiring of it, there is indeed more to it than simple dominance in the combat ring. Some did indeed fail today, even one who was the victor in his match, but that was for their failing to understand the principles which underlie the test and our society as a whole.

"We did begin as simple predators long ago, savagely warring and killing each other as well as anything else which crossed our path, but we accepted and embraced change with the passage of years to become what we are today. Martial skills are important, as a fit body lends itself well to fitness of the mind, but they're secondary in this since they can continually sharpened and refined at leisure.

"Today both of you showed spirit, adaptability, and respect for your opponent. The courage required for that, to step beyond the shelter of blind obedience and tradition, is what we acknowledge and will accept you for. Take pride in yourselves, and what you have become."

Zillah smiled broadly, and didn't really have much to say...

The elder stepped forward to give each of them a plain, polished wood box, opening it revealed a delicately faceted crystal of shifting, shimmering colors held in a crafted silver claw.

"Congratulations," he said one more, then gestured toward the rear of the tent and grinned. "Now go out and enjoy the last of the festival. I'm sure you'll have all sorts of new duties awaiting you tomorrow."

Niri looked extremely thoughtful as she took the box and then nodded at the elder's command before heading for the exit. Definitely hadn't been quite what she'd expected, but then she realized that she really _should_ have. Zillah went out likewise pensively, thinking about what that was all about and what it really meant.

That was ultimately the climax of the festival, and after the night passed and the sun dawned bright and warm once again the people of various villages begin to tear down their stands, tents, and whatever else they'd brought along. A few remained to try and trade the last of their wares, but the greater part packed away what was left and what they'd gained and began the journey home.

Niri did track Zillah down the next morning, wishing her luck and hoped to run across her sometime when she managed to escape and made it out into the greater worlds beyond.

"Well, if you're ever in the Karzan Galaxy, drop me a line," Zillah said with a grin and a wink.

Niri snorted. "I'll be lucky to get out of the system." She grinned. "But I will if I do. Take care!"

Niri trotted off to catch up with the people headed back for her village, shaking off the attentions of her mother with a disgruntled complaint. Zillah chuckled to herself, and went off to see about locating Sharra. Sharra wasn't difficult to find, as she'd been staying either at the small house or the ship. The ship being closest was the easiest to check, and Zillah found her there, leaning against the frame of the entryway to the cargo area in silent thought.

Hearing Zillah enter, she turned her head and smiled. "Well hello there."

Zillah smiled at her and waves in greeting and says, "Hey, whatcha doin'?"

"Keeping an eye on something that was delivered last night," Sharra replied, motioning toward a footlocker identical to her own that was set on the floor just inside the bay. "Graduation present of sorts."

Zillah raised an eyebrow and looked over in that direction curiously.

"Go on, open it," Sharra said, chuckling. "Check the panel at the bottom for a neural link lock and look inside."

The locker was identical to what she used, heavier than it should be even empty, and empty it appeared to be. At least until the panel was checked at the bottom and opened to reveal a dimensional space complete with a digital inventory panel.

"They wanted to give me something," she said. "So I had them leave a full multi for you, just on the offhand chance you ever need them."

A multi, obviously meaning more than the simple term might imply as the inventory screen scrolled to reveal an array of weapon types ranging from the pistol and short rifle Sharra carried to the heavy weapon harness she'd threatened with on Tibet.

"Not exactly a housewarming gift, but I thought you might find more use for these than matching luggage."

Zillah went and took a good look over the thing, her eyes widening as she did so and realized just what it appeared to be. "Ooh, neat!"

"All the tech specs are in the database," Sharra said, and the inventory screen quickly brought that up and to the surface at the mention of it. "Anything you want to know about the multis can be found in that cube, along with a lot of very detailed information that the Quattoria have gathered about the three galaxies over the last few thousand years. Not that that's going to be all that useful back in Karzan." She chuckled.

Zillah giggled at that and proceeded to dive in to take a good look over things like a kitten with a new toy. The multis _were_ a neat toy, albeit a deadly set of them, each weapon possessing a neural link that allowed the user to configure the weapon to fire a wide array of energies or projectiles. There were melee weapons as well, including a duplicate of the staff she'd been using as well as two sword hilts and a force shield. Full details available on request from the handy-dandy cube.

Another common factor was that all of them were considerably more heavy than they should be, deliberately so according to the database as they were designed for the Quattoria and the neural link codes meant that they were difficult to re-attune to anyone else. A footnote in the database showed that over the thousands of years they'd been in use, not a single multi set had rested outside the Quattoria for more than a week.

"Get yourself familiar with all of them and they'll serve you well in any situation," Sharra said.

Zillah was certainly perfectly happy to do that and needed no encouragement. Sharra left her to it for a while, but eventually returned to drag her out and back into the sunlit world. There was still a week or so until their ship would be ready, and she was intent on showing Zillah more of the beauties of life beyond a space station. Forests, mountains, the southern wastes, all the strange and enticing places she'd visited in her own youth. She could easily have spent years at it, but the time would come to leave soon enough.


End file.
